Previous Topics

8/2/2002 Gordon C. Landis: Interesting General Game Design
Just noticed that back in March, some new stuff went up on www.costik.com - PowerPoint presentations that are quite fascinating. More computer game (of various stripes) oriented, but "Game Design…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Gordon C. Landis.

6/25/2002 Gordon C. Landis: Back in the day
So I'm going to go way back to the mid-late 70's - long enough ago that I'm not sure how much to trust my memories, but not so long as…
In Actual Play
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Demonspahn, Ron Edwards, joshua neff, Christopher Kubasik, Mike Holmes, Clay, hyphz, Walt Freitag, Ragnar Deerslayer, Le Joueur, Victor Gijsbers, contracycle, Laurel, Eric J., Zak Arntson, Uncle Dark, Ian O'Rourke, quozl.

5/29/2002 Gordon C. Landis: Film vs. Novel as N-model
Over in RPG Theory, I read: (This, by the way, works great for the introverted medium of the novel -- you create it alone, you consume it alone, and…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Christopher Kubasik, Ron Edwards.

3/22/2002 Gordon C. Landis: New/New is better than Familiar/New?
I almost put this in Actual Play, but since it's a game that DIDN'T happen . . . we're here in Theory. I was going to start running a Sorceror…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Christopher Kubasik, Le Joueur, Mike Holmes.

3/22/2002 Gordon C. Landis: Peter Adkison now owns GenCon
Per http://www.wizards.com/news/pressrelease.asp?20020321a, WotC is out of the convention-running business, and Mr. Adkison is "set to take over the hosting and managing of the GenCon Game Fair in 2002", although WotC…
In Actual Play
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Mike Holmes, Matt Gwinn, Jason L Blair, Armin D. Sykes.

3/14/2002 Gordon C. Landis: Not just-RPG theory
As a result of joe_llama's (Nadav?) recent "We need a more general theory of games" postings, I took a look at a couple old links I had on the subject:…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Laurel, joe_llama.

3/13/2002 Gordon C. Landis: Top valid concerns about GNS
I thought this might be another angle to take at reducing the furor/missunderstandings around GNS - explicitly acknowledging where issues exist and where rational individuals may disagree. I've only got…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, Mytholder, Le Joueur, Laurel, Clinton R. Nixon, J B Bell.

3/12/2002 Gordon C. Landis: Side Issues
EDIT: Uh, it'd be fine with me if this got merged in with the response Clinton made when he split-off Steve's post . . . I wanted to respond to…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Ron Edwards.

3/9/2002 Gordon C. Landis: Role playing is not a goal?
Plucked from the "GNS Showdown" thread over in the GNS Model discussion forum, in an attempt to curb my normal "support thread drift" tendencies . . . Start from scratch.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, joe_llama, C. Edwards, contracycle.

3/6/2002 Gordon C. Landis: Turning threads into articles
So, here's my thought: the threads here at the Forge can get really meaty and really valuable. But the thread format is not the friendliest for those who weren't participating…
In Site Discussion
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, J B Bell.

2/22/2002 Gordon C. Landis: System for multiple-roll scenes (and more)
A thread over in the Random Order Creations forum ("When Heroes Fail", http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1451) triggered me to write up a quick and rough summary of what I'm working on at the…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, hardcoremoose, Bankuei, Joe Murphy (Broin).

1/21/2002 Gordon C. Landis: "What's produced" vs. "In play"
Boy, I hope I'm not poking at a hornet's nest here - if that's the feeling anyone gets, ignore this post. Elsewhere, Ron posted this tidbit: A little note…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Ron Edwards, Logan, jburneko, J B Bell, contracycle.

1/18/2002 Gordon C. Landis: Player Illusionism
OK, Logan mentioned (in one of the GNS/Dramatism threads) that Illusionism is usually a GM "tool". I'm putting this here in Theory, even though it involves Actual Play, because it's…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Ron Edwards, jburneko.

1/17/2002 Gordon C. Landis: Design theory vs. play desires
Seemed like I should split this out of the Narrativism thread if I wanted to comment on it - and I do . . . So I think so…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Jared A. Sorensen, Ron Edwards, Laurel, Marco, Paganini, Le Joueur.

12/14/2001 Gordon C. Landis: The Importance of Being External
So I found myself arguing for the legitimacy of "internal" Gamist measurement of performance in the "Gamism: The pursuit of excellence" thread. I added a few words about how there…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Ron Edwards.

12/7/2001 Gordon C. Landis: "Should I apply GNS?" Decision tree
Inpired by the Mads Jakobsen Gamism thread, the "What Style" thread, and the RPG.net . . . thing. 1-Are you having a problem with your RPG play/design? If NO, do…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Gordon C. Landis.

12/7/2001 Gordon C. Landis: Disapearing thread?
Hey - I *swear* I had a post in this forum about the "broken" History of the Forge link on the main page . . . and it's gone. The…
In Site Discussion
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Ron Edwards, Clinton R. Nixon.

11/30/2001 Gordon C. Landis: Sim to Nar "drift" in actual play
Ron mentions me in the acknowledgements of the GNS essay as contributing thoughts on "drift" (thanks, Ron). I'm not sure exactly which posts of mine he found useful, but as…
In Actual Play
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Mike Holmes.

11/3/2001 Gordon C. Landis: Who do you hook?
First - get your mind out of the gutter! Now . . . In one of the extraordinary Art-Deco Melodrama thread(s) over in the Sorcerror forum, Ron made a statement…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Ron Edwards, joshua neff, Logan, 333Chronzon.

10/19/2001 Gordon C. Landis: The "Audience" experience
Audience stance . . . I'm not sure I've got my brain firmly wrapped around the stance issues yet, so apologies if this isn't actually as relevant to the issues…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Gordon C. Landis.

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Subsequent Topics

9/6/2002 Gordon C. Landis: Actual Participationism candidate
Hey, I started this post yesterday - more P-thing posts have occurred, and I'm still not sure if this belongs in an existing thread, or on it's own. On its'…
In Actual Play
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Knight, Mike Holmes, contracycle.

10/3/2002 Gordon C. Landis: Sex and Sorcery Literature?
So, I picked up Dark Ladies (Fritz Leiber's Conjure Wife and Our Lady of Darkness in one volume) the other day. I've read both, years and years ago, and I'm…
In Adept Press
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Ron Edwards.

12/20/2002 Gordon C. Landis: "In character" - another less-than-useful term?
I couldn't decide if this belonged in the tar baby immersion thread, or over in player vs. character in GNS, or somewhere else, so . . . I'm starting a…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, jburneko, Jack Spencer Jr, M. J. Young, Ted E. Childers, Ron Edwards, Emily Care, Walt Freitag, bluegargantua.

4/4/2003 Gordon C. Landis: Creative agenda == Explorative agenda?
Here's a thought that has been brewing since "creative agenda" was mentioned as a possible solution to the confusion around Narrative (or whatever) Premise vs. general overal game premise .…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Ron Edwards.

5/20/2003 Gordon C. Landis: Gamma Worlds' "How to Use This Book"
My copy of Gamma World is copyright 1978, TSR Rules, and is listed as the 2nd printing, August 1978. The authors are James A. Ward and Gary Jaquet. Clearly an…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Patrick O'Duffy, quozl, John Kim.

7/8/2003 Gordon C. Landis: Protagonism and openness
[quote="Mike Holmes"]Well, other than the simple idea of keeping the numbers low, another way to make splitting more palatable is to ensure that all the players are interested in all…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, SFEley, Bankuei, M. J. Young, Mike Holmes, Piers Brown, Wolfen, jrs, Emily Care.

8/1/2003 Gordon C. Landis: GNS and Dysfunction
From Ron's "GNS and Other Matters of Role-playing Theory":The person who is entirely satisfied with his or her role-playing experiences is not my target audience I think this sentence has…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Andrew Martin, Ron Edwards.

9/25/2003 Gordon C. Landis: Shadows in the Fog - Sim?
John and I got started on a discussion of some actual play over in a theory thread , so I thought I'd move the discussion over here. quote="Gordon C.…
In Actual Play
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, John Kim.

9/29/2003 Gordon C. Landis: Things NOT GNS (including g, n, and s)
This seemed best as a new post, though it is directly spawned by Clarifying Simulationism and similiar recent threads. Let me start with three fairly simple statements that…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, pete_darby, Ian Charvill, Wormwood, Ron Edwards, AnyaTheBlue, jdagna, M. J. Young, Walt Freitag, Valamir, Mike Holmes.

10/31/2003 Gordon C. Landis: What is a HeroQuest?
[quote="Valamir"][quote]To veer over to the Illiad example. Greek heroquesters might look for ways to resolve the rift between Achillies and Agammemnon -- but if they suddenly turned it around and…
In HeroQuest
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, simondale, Mac Logo, Spooky Fanboy, simon_hibbs.

12/17/2003 Gordon C. Landis: Looking at eyebeams objections to GNS
A response to Malcolm's thoughts about GNS in this thread didn't seem to fit with the focus of that thread - so I thought I'd start a new one.…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, greyorm, eyebeams, contracycle, Calithena, Ron Edwards, Ian Charvill, Mike Holmes.

3/10/2004 Gordon C. Landis: Seeing GNS everywhere
[quote="'JP', in comments to Greg Costikyan's March 4, 2004 blog entry"] Which isn't to say you can't quantify some of the general archetypes, as Mahk LeBlanc and others have done.…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Mike Holmes, John Kim, pete_darby.

3/18/2005 Gordon C. Landis: One opinion on why and how GNS matters [Essay]
This essay/post will (hopefully) serve three purposes. First, I think that why and how GNS matters (that is, how it's useful in creating and playing enjoyable games) is often misunderstood.…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Gordon C. Landis.

4/6/2005 Gordon C. Landis: So, I watched House of Sand and Fog a while back
I was impressed by it. I was depressed by it. I was glad to have seen it, even though I can't honestly say I enjoyed it all that much. A…
In Forge Birthday Forum
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, xenopulse, Domhnall.

4/8/2005 Gordon C. Landis: A quote for discussion
OK, it's kinda serious stuff, and can be seen as Nar/RPG related, so maybe it doesn't have to be in the Birthday forum. But I'm interested in some free-wheeling reponses,…
In Forge Birthday Forum
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, xenopulse, pete_darby, Brendan, Wolfen.

4/18/2005 Gordon C. Landis: How DO Game Designers (or computers) influence play?
Borrowing from Josh's post towards the end of this thread, I'd like to offer a distinction between "participating in" the SIS and "contributing to" the SIS. "Participating in" the SIS…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, efindel, Eva Deinum, Noon, Wysardry, contracycle.

8/12/2005 Gordon C. Landis: Playing Indie Games
This post is in (small? large? I'm not sure) part inspired by Ron's "This one's important" post (http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=16335.0) - it's been on my mind for a while, and I wasn't…
In Site Discussion
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Ron Edwards, TonyLB, Bankuei, Nathan P., matthijs, Eero Tuovinen, Paganini, greyorm, bcook1971, GaryTP, droog, Albert of Feh, immlass, Marco.

8/2/2006 Gordon C. Landis: [SNAP] Publication history, publication future
The design history of SNAP (a generic “system” to build & run Narish games) I can trace back to this May 2001 post, but the publication history . .…
In Publishing
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, MatrixGamer, Adam SBG.

5/8/2012 Gordon C. Landis: Early D&D play and "problematic procedures"
So there's an actual play post I want to get up before Winter ends (which will be in summer, I guess), but I need to work up to it.  This…
In Actual Play
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Noon, Abkajud, The_Barwickian.

5/30/2012 Gordon C. Landis: The fate of private messages
As the likely-stated end of winter is just a day or two away, it occured to me that it might be worth making sure folks are aware what the fate…
In Site Discussion
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, lumpley.

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